Sanna: Endurance-Only Effort the “First Step” for Lambo in GTP

Lamborghini’s head of motorsport Giorgio Sanna has described the manufacturer’s endurance-only foray into the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship as a “first step” into the GTP class.

The V8-powered LMDh car will not contest the full WeatherTech Championship season during its first year of competition, with the focus being placed on the Michelin Endurance Cup races.

It will, however, appear full-time in the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship.

Sanna reiterated that position during last weekend’s Lamborghini Grand Finals event at Portimao but opened the door to evaluations for a larger-scale commitment.

“In this moment it is planned to do the endurance championship in America and the WEC,” he said. “2o24 will be the first year. We are of course looking to manage both programs with one structure.

“That, of course, is Iron Lynx but also includes technicians coming from the factory.

“So we expect that this will be the first step to do in a first season, and then we will evaluate a full-season program later.”

Sanna also explained that Lamborghini intends to commit to a ‘parallel development schedule’ between Europe and the U.S, with one car undergoing testing on European circuits while a second car heads overseas.

The Lamborghini Iron Lynx team will run race programs on both sides of the Atlantic in 2024.

“We have planned to start the development testing in Europe because it is more comfortable for us also having Ligier as a technical partner far from the factory,” said Sanna.

“But we have already planned to have parallel development in America. So we will go with two cars, developing in parallel starting from the summer in Europe and the U.S. at the same time.

“Because in any case, the race tracks in America are quite different in terms of characteristics and asphalt. So it will be needed to go in parallel with both cars.”

Lambo LMDh Rollout Planned For Spring 2023

Sanna also gave additional insight into the current status of the car’s development, stating that production and assembly will soon get underway.

From there, Lamborghini plans to have its car out on track by the first few months of 2023, with Sanna pointing to a rollout in early spring.

“The status of the project is in the final phase of engineering,” he explained. “Now we are entering the second phase, and the second phase means to produce the components and assemble the car.

“Then we have several indoor [wind tunnel] tests planned and the target is to be on the race track from March or April next year with a long development test on the track already planned.”

Partner squad Iron Lynx, which also has support from Prema, has been involved in the development of the unnamed LMDh car from the early days of the project.

“Clearly, we have already started to work together because the racing team will be involved also as a development team on the track,” said Sanna.

“For this reason, the team is involved and engaged with us as a manufacturer since day one.

“When we started to define the technical contents and concept of the car, the racing team was involved because the management of the car in endurance makes the difference.

“The expertise on how we have to develop the car and looking for the right management of the car can only come from the team’s side in terms of experience and feedback.

“So we are working like one team since the first day, one family. We are doing very well. We go step by step and I am super confident.”